


Terrible Bore - Events of Intermission

by aspiringenjolras



Series: The Nine Lives of Broadway Jellicles [7]
Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Family Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 02:52:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8083858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aspiringenjolras/pseuds/aspiringenjolras
Summary: As the Jellicles take a break from their dancing, Old Deuteronomy's family gets into an argument.





	

“You called me a  _ bore!”  _ Tugger complained, trotting off after Munkustrap.

“Please, Tugger, not now.” The silver tabby turned to his brother, crossing his arms. “There are more important things to discuss.” Munkustrap still had his back to his half-brother, and Alonzo leaned in to whisper something to him, which ruffled Tugger’s fur.

“More important things? Like what? What to do about her?” Tugger gestured out to the clearing, where Grizabella stood, with Old Deuteronomy watching her carefully. 

_ “Tugger,”  _ Munkustrap hissed. “Don’t be disrespectful.”

The two toms glared at each other for a minute, before Alonzo intervened. “No, Tugger. Not her. Macavity.” 

The name elicited a flinch from the other two, although neither Tugger nor Munkustrap could be surprised by it. 

“...Do you think he’s going to actually show up?” Tugger asked, voice a little quieter. 

“We think so,” Munkustrap said slowly. “We talked to the twins, they’ve been sensing something’s up.”

Tugger bristled, curling his paws into fists. “ _ We?  _ Who’s  _ we _ ?”

Alonzo and Munkustrap exchanged another look. “The two of us, and father.”

Tugger’s face fell as he knitted his eyebrows together, trying to make sense of it. “So the two of you have been talking to  _ our _ father. About  _ our  _ brother. And you didn’t think to involve me.” He spat on the ground, fluffing up his mane. “That’s just like you, Munkustrap. You despise me so much that you forget I’m your brother too. You can try to block me out of this family all you want, but you can’t deny blood.”

Alonzo held his paw up. “I guess we just— you’re not— you’re only—”

Now Tugger got it. A grim smile spread across his face and he turned on his brothers, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you would sooner acknowledge the cat who you disowned, who’s declared war on our tribe, before you acknowledge your half-brother.” Munkustrap opened his mouth to say something, but Tugger barged on. “Actually, I can. Alonzo,” he said, turning to the black and white tom. “I don’t blame you.  _ He’s _ influenced you a lot. I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one, Munkustrap!”

Munkustrap rushed up to Tugger, putting his paws on his shoulders. “Tugger, calm down. It wasn’t because you’re only our half-brother.”

“Then why?!”

“Because you’re irresponsible! Because you never take anything seriously! We can’t be certain that you’d even do what we ask, because you’ve never shown up for anything important in your life. Sometimes I don’t think you even care about the tribe— or anything but yourself. That’s why we didn’t include you.”

A stony silence fell over the three of them; Tugger and Munkustrap glared at each other, and Alonzo hovered behind the silver tabby, face worried. Then, after a minute, Tugger took a step back, and his whole manner seemed to deflate. A tight smile crossed his face and he nodded in understanding.

“Is that what you said to Macavity before he left? Hm, Munkustrap? Did you tell him that too?” And while the other two stared after, Tugger turned his back on them and stalked off out of view of his brothers.

“I—” Munkustrap looked helplessly at Alonzo, who only shrugged. 

“Let him go,” he muttered in his ear. “He’ll come around.”

“But what if he—”

“He isn’t Macavity, Munk. He just needs time to cool off.”

“But…” Munkustrap’s voice was unfamiliarly uncertain. “He…”

“It’s time to go back,” Alonzo said, touching his arm lightly. “Don’t worry so much.”

“Yeah, right.” Munkustrap looked off in Tugger’s direction. “Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> This vignette is based on the one thing we don't see at all during the show: what happens during intermission. The way I see it, the action doesn't pause for those 15 minutes, because Old Deuteronomy never leaves the stage. Instead, they all take a break to relax. I wanted to write a scene between these three, and this seemed like the best time for it to happen.
> 
> So now, it's Nat's Headcanon Time! For the purpose of this fic, I use a combination of my own headcanons, and things cast members have said. Andy, who plays Munkustrap, said that he sees Alonzo as his brother, Tugger as their half brother, and Old Deuteronomy as their father. My personal headcanon has Macavity as a fourth brother (full brother to Munk and Alonzo).
> 
> Other things, less important to know, but still good to: For Munk/Alonzo/Macavity, their mother is unknown/irrelevant. Out of the picture. But Tugger's mother was Grizabella. I'll be addressing that more in other chapters!


End file.
